


Reflections

by Messier42



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:00:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24838090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Messier42/pseuds/Messier42
Summary: Set sometime after the Big Finish audios Siege of Big Ben and Flight into Hull! The story of how Jackie manages to get off-planet before Rose and the metacrisis Doctor (and how they rescue her) interspersed with reflections of their time together in the Parallel Universe.
Relationships: Metacrisis Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Comments: 14
Kudos: 19





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! Long time reader of fan fiction (like seriously, it’s been over a decade), first time writer. No beta reader for this either soooo let’s see how it goes. I’ve read all my favourite fics 20 times over during lockdown so thought it was maybe about time to put some of my headcanons to paper. Enjoy! :)

“Hi Rose love, it’s your mum. There seems to have been some... well a misunderstanding really. I was chatting to Shazia from supplies — you know Shazia, says she has a peanut allergy but I swear I saw her scoffing a Snickers the other day. Anyway, she was telling me about her new kitchen — ooh it sounds lovely, granite tops and everything — when these dead-serious looking blokes in masks came up to us and asked who was in charge. Well, seeing as we were in the canteen that’s me innit? So I told them as much, and next thing I knew — BAM! I’m not sure where I am but there’s all these tentacley things speaking gibberish and some panels with squiggly things on them. Oh and there’s a window, I can see some sort of moon out of it but it’s not *the Moon*, at least I don’t think so anyway. I know you and himself haven’t gotten that TARDIS of yours grown yet, but any chance you could come find me and pick me up with some UNIT thingimibob? It’s Tony’s parents evening tonight and I really don’t want to miss it. Call me back when you can, I hope you’re getting this since my phone was zapped, love you!”

Rose hung up the answer machine. 

“I can’t believe she’s gotten off-planet before us” the Doctor grumbled. 

Rose looked incredulous. “Never mind that, my mum’s been kidnapped! How on Earth are we supposed to rescue her?” 

“Weeeell...” the Doctor mused. He ran a hand through his hair, somehow managing to make it look more ruffled than before. “She’s probably not on Earth anymore, that’s kind of the point right? Okay okay, too far, I’m sorry. But your mother really doesn’t half put her foot in it, does she? First the incident with Krista then with the Humber bridge. And that’s just since I’ve been in this Universe!”

Meanwhile Rose had already got her shoes and jacket on, and was already halfway out the door. “You coming or not?”

“Right, yes, of course. Operation rescue Jackie Tyler from the clutches of unknown alien adversary with unknown motivations ... allons-y!” 

***************************************************

It hadn’t been easy, at first. People grow, people change, and after time apart from someone it’s only natural that some syncing up again would be required. It doesn’t help when one of the people in question is simultaneously 900-odd years old and practically a newborn. Or when the same person has gone through a human-Timelord biological metacrisis and is having to adapt to a new physiology at the same time. 

“It’s strange” the Doctor had considered, sat cross-legged on a small, rickety bed in a Norwegian hotel. It had started to rain heavily, the droplets hammering on the window. “I’m trying to compare this to a regeneration. In many ways, I’ve not changed at all — no new teeth to get used to, which is nice, and I still have my dashingly good looks”. He winked at Rose, cross-legged across from him on the bed, and she had tried not to indulge him with a smile. “But blimey, in other ways... being human is so strange. I can almost feel the wrinkles coming in already! Senses are definitely dulled somewhat but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s nice to take a break from being overloaded with them. I certainly wouldn’t want to have my old nose with the way I smell right now.”

Rose had snorted at that. “Or your old old ears for hearing.”

“Oi! I heard that. Oooh, bit of Donna’s personality still rattling around in my head too but that should wear off over time”. Rose had caught the briefest flicker of emotion across his face before he continued. 

“But the main thing that’s different, and honestly? I didn’t realise how relieving this could be. It’s literally as if the weight of the Universe has been lifted off my shoulders. I haven’t felt this free in... well centuries really”. A tender smile crept slowly across his face. “Of course, you’ve always had that effect on me too. I’m sure everything’s going to catch up with me at some point, but for now... I’m okay if you’re okay.” A flash of doubt crossed his face then. “You are okay, right?” 

“Yeah” Rose had said softly. “I’m always going to be worried about... the other you. It might take me a while to get over that. But I made my choice on that beach, and I chose this. At first it hadn’t really sunk in what it would mean, and I’d psyched myself up for never coming back to this Universe again. But honestly? This is the best of both worlds. I don’t have to leave my family behind, we can go back to our old life when the baby TARDIS has grown, and most importantly, I have a you that actually tells me how you’re feeling, which is nice. I’ve dealt with bigger changes when it comes to you. Stuck with you, this you... it’s not so bad, yeah?” 

“Yeah.”

They both smiled. 

“Come here, you” Rose had laughed, and realised that it had been the first time she’d done so in this Universe for a long while. “We’ve got a few years of hugs to catch up on. And I want to hear everything about what you’ve gotten up to without me”. 

So they’d settled down on that rickety old bed in each other’s arms, and told their stories. The heavy stuff, the year that never was and the most desolate of parallel universes, would wait until later. But that evening it was just the Doctor and Rose, talking themselves to sleep until the early hours of the morning. And they had both slept soundly and deeply, erasing their mutual exhaustion through the comfort of the other. Well, until Jackie had knocked loudly on the door in the morning. 

“Morning sleepyheads! I’m not coming in because quite frankly I don’t want to know what you’ve been getting up to in there, but remember that I don’t want to be a grandma quite yet Rose. They’ve got breakfast foods down in the lobby, you know the usual spread of toast and croissants and the cereal that tastes like cardboard. Pete’s sent a zeppelin to come pick us up and you’d better be ready for it because I do not want to spend another bleeding minute in bloody Norway”. 

The Doctor had groaned into Rose’s hair. “Can you believe that I actually missed your mother? I was definitely looking back with Rose-tinted glasses. She’s still as much trouble as she’s always been”. At that moment in time, Rose couldn’t help but agree with him. 

Yawning and stretching, she’d tilted her head up so that her nose was just touching his, and her breath ghosted across his lips.

“G’morning” she mumbled, pieces of the previous day slotting back into her memories. 

“Hello” the Doctor beamed back at her. 

“Hello — wait, did I already say that?” she said, scrunching her nose up in confusion. 

“I’d almost forgotten how adorably bad you are at mornings. C’mon, let’s go get you a cuppa”. The Doctor dropped a kiss onto her still-scrunched nose, before tearing the duvet off then both, causing Rose to shriek in mock outrage. She’d just about managed to sit herself up before being startled by a sudden pounding on the door, intercut with her mother’s voice. 

“I mean it, you’ve got 20 minutes! You’ve been canoodling for long enough, now get moving!” Rose groaned and flopped back onto the bed, and the Doctor grimaced. He guessed that he’d have to get used to this. 

*****************************************************

Jackie had continued to get in the Doctor’s bad books, and vice versa, until they’d mostly smoothed things over with their little zeppelin jaunt to Hull (and since Jackie had stopped sneaking gherkins into his sandwiches when she was annoyed at him). But as he and Rose headed into central London (“seriously Rose, UNIT is based in Big Ben? Who’s idea was that?” “No idea, but it’s helpful when we need to get the politicians to sign off on something”), he couldn’t help but worry. He’d helped see off a few minor invasions since getting here, but they’d always been quick, Earth-based fixes. This... he wasn’t sure where to start. 

And Jackie’s life was potentially on the line.


	2. Reassurances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to those of you who left Kudos and commented on my first chapter! Now I can’t promise any more updates will be as speedy as this, but I’m already getting rather invested...

UNIT was already bustling with the maximum alert level when Rose and the Doctor arrived. The base was a surreal mix of old and new, with ancient oak panels interspersed with holographic screens. Apparently, as Rose had explained to the Doctor, when it had been founded in this universe, the central location and advanced security already in place from Parliament had made it ideal. When the country had adopted a presidential system, and some of the political departments had moved away from Westminster, UNIT quietly moved in and had been there ever since. The Doctor, for reasons unfathomable to most, had requested a laboratory within Big Ben’s tower, which was usually shunned by the other staff as being annoyingly loud. The bell tolled ominously as they entered the reception area, already full of UNIT personnel scuffling to and fro. 

“See!” He nudged her. “This is why we need to get into work on time.”

Rose sighed. “Firstly, you’re just as bad as I am, if not worse. Secondly, is now really the time?”

The Doctor looked sheepish. “Sorry” 

Rose immediately went into action mode, striding towards the nerve centre of the building with the Doctor in tow, plus a UNIT agent who had come to greet them. “Right, what do we know so far other than mum’s initial phone call? Who’s commanding — is the Brigadier still in Peru?” 

Whilst Rose was now happily working with the Doctor — UNIT’s scientific advisor — as his assistant, her old Torchwood training from before the merger with UNIT would kick in if needed. The two of them tended to be given a fair amount of leeway when it came to what they actually did at UNIT; everyone agreed that they were far too good to be assigned to only one thing. 

The Doctor began studying the screens now in front of them. “So there’s no trace of Jackie’s phone, or how her call made it through to Rose... No signals from any of the Mullard arrays, nothing from Goonhilly... Lovell is undergoing maintenance again? How about the rest of Jodrell Bank and e-Merlin?” 

“Nothing sir” 

“How many times, call me Doctor!” 

“Sorry si.. Doctor”

“Any transient signals recorded by any of the global interferometry networks? Do we at least have a limit for how the weak any signals from them must be for us not to have seen them yet?”

“Working on it now”

Rose, meanwhile, had slipped away unnoticed as the Doctor poured over the technical details. Or mostly unnoticed. Standing outside in the corridor she was lost in her thoughts, until she was startled by a familiar hand slipping into her own. 

“You okay?” The Doctor asked her. 

Rose let out a deep sigh. “Yeah, just about. Just needed a bit of space. Pete’s gone to pick Tony up from school — we doubt anyone would go after him too but just in case. From what Mum said it seems like they weren’t targeting her specifically, but you never know. I just wish that she didn’t get caught up in these things, but I guess that’s originally my fault really.” 

The Doctor offered her a smile. “Or really, my fault by association, hmm? It all went downhill from Jackie’s perspective as soon as I showed up in your life. I’m just the worst aren’t I?” He was teasing her now, and she couldn’t help but return his grin. “It’ll be okay” he reassured her. 

**************************************************

This Doctor had always been good at that, reassuring her. For all of Donna’s occasional bluntness, she really did care about people, and he seemed to have significantly improved at showing it since the metacrisis thanks to her. At first Rose would be taken aback by his increased openness. He still could be utterly clueless sometimes — not even Donna could save the lost cause he could be on occasion — but overall he seemed... more human. Which made perfect sense of course. 

His new human comforting skills had proven useful early on. When they’d arrived back in London from Norway, there had been a few awkward days of settling into a new routine. The Tylers still lived in the grand old house him and Rose had first visited all those years ago, so the two of them had plenty of space to get reacquainted. Not that Rose was home much; because she had played an integral  
part of the dimension cannon project, she needed to be there as it was disassembled. The Doctor didn’t mind too much. He was happy to potter about setting up an initial grow tank for their TARDIS coral, and making all of the kitchen appliances a little more sonic (much to Jackie’s dismay and Pete’s amusement). As soon as Rose would return home for the day, she wouldn’t let him out of her sight. 

“You know, we could really do with your help at work”, she’d said to him one night, watching as he finished up his day’s tinkering. “There’s talk of Torchwood and UNIT merging, and they’re interested in expanding the scientific arm of their work. You said you’ve done that before right, being a scientific advisor on Earth?” He nodded, and she started to fidget, looking away from him. “I just... don’t want you to get bored. You know, stuck here until the TARDIS has grown. Or that you’ll decide that this life isn’t for you after all, and it’s my fault that you’re stuck away from the stars. Or even just that you get bored of little old me”. 

The Doctor carefully placed a tool that looked like a cross between a screwdriver and a soldering iron back on the workbench. 

“Rose Tyler” he said, rolling her name around his mouth. “Me, bored? Never!”

Rose had looked back at him pointedly. “You do remember that time on Terrasina when you got us both arrested because you got bored of waiting for the Queen to show up? And decided that the best way to pass the time was to make weird sounds with your mouth that actually translated into crude insults?”

The Doctor seemed affronted. “Okay first of all, I know literally billions of languages, so surely you can forgive me for not always being up-to-date on the local slang. Secondly, we had been waiting for over an hour! Frankly we should have taken more offence at them. And C, I now have much more interesting things to keep me occupied” 

“Oh, like what?” Rose had questioned him. 

He moved over to her, gently placing his hands on either side of her head as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “I can think of quite a few, mostly involving you”. 

And with that, he’d kissed her. With it, he’d tried to pour all of his assurances to her unspoken worries. That although the life that was ahead of them wasn’t ever one that either of them had considered before, they would make it work. And that although he’d probably not quite shake the wanderlust in his now-singular heart, he’d never run off without her — only ever with her by his side. If anything, he felt like he was the one who should be worrying; if Rose was happy with the new him and the fact that the original model (so to speak) was still out there in the multiverse. And if she would want to share a normalish human life with him. 

Those worries faded away as Rose deepened their kiss, pushing him back against the workbench, and he’d hummed in appreciation. “Remind me of why we didn’t do this more before?” he’d asked as she’d pulled away briefly to catch her breath. 

“Because Time Lords can be stupid and stuffy and stubborn and would very rarely initiate anything like this, regardless of how overwhelmingly consenting and enthusiastic their best mate slash assistant extraordinaire would have been about it?” Rose had suggested. 

“Yeah, that’d do it” the Doctor had replied. “Luckily for you, this new new new Doctor is much less stuffy and rather full of unfamiliar, scary, and exciting hormones, plus is hopefully not quite as stupid when it comes to his feelings.”

“Hmm, I’ll believe it when I see it” Rose had said. “But for now consider me reassured”. 

*********************************************

Whilst the Doctor and Rose had a strict “no snogging at work” policy (initiated after an unfortunate incident In the supply cupboard) hugs were more than welcome. Rose needed the comfort for not knowing what had happened to her mother, and the Doctor needed reassuring that he was still useful without a functioning TARDIS. With her face buried in the crook of his neck, she inhaled deeply. The Doctor still smelled like the strange concoction of engine oil, old books, and countless other things that she’d always found comfort in, with this him having a few more human elements to it too. One of his hands threaded its fingers through her hair, the newer patches of rough skin contrasting against his original softness. They stayed locked in a tight embrace for a few moments before a technician came out to find them. 

“Doctor, Agent Tyler. We’ve found out where she is. Nice tip about the signal modulation Doctor, thanks for that. But this is where it’s going to get tricky”.


	3. Frustrations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Can you tell that I love writing Jackie?  
> 2\. If you weren’t already aware, the TARDIS coral comes from a deleted scene in Journey’s End (go watch it if you’ve not seen it, it’s on YouTube!). It was also included in the BF audios (which, if you’ve not listened to, I would seriously recommend, not least because I may reference them here).  
> 3\. I’m going to try and stick to a writing schedule so that I can put a chapter out sometime before each weekend; if I’m particularly productive then I might upload midweek too.  
> 4\. Hope you’re all having a lovely week!

As it turned out, what Jackie had been seeing was the Earth’s Moon after all. She hadn’t recognised it from the far side, and the Earth had been hidden from view behind it. The Doctor had once tried to explain to her how the Moon was tidally locked to the Earth, always showing its familiar face as it rotated at the same angular speed as its orbit — but Jackie had soon dropped her attention (“all I asked you was if the Man in the Moon was a real thing!”). 

“We’ve got Mrs Tyler on her phone”, the Doctor and Rose were briefed as they entered the room again. “It seems like we’ll only have a communication link with her when we have direct line of sight to the spacecraft she’s on. Based on initial observations of their trajectory, they’re in orbit around the Moon, and we’ve got about an hour before radio silence occurs again as they go around the far side.”

Rose hurried over to the communications desk. “Mum? Mum — okay calm down — yes I remembered to put the bins out last night — is that really what you’re worried about right now? ... One sec I’ll put you on speaker.”

“... and proper stinking breath too, really they could give those Slickeen a run for their money. They seem to think that the closer they get to me the more likely I am to understand them but it’s all just nonsense to me still. Do you remember that time when Arianna had that Greek bloke come onto her down the pub ‘cos he thought she looked Greek, but she barely understood what he was saying? It’s like that, but these fellas are a LOT less good looking. At least I think they’re fellas, it’s hard to tell”.

“MUM!” 

“Sorry sweetheart, what is it you need to know again?” 

The Doctor cut in. “First of all, do they seem hostile Jackie? Are you okay?”

“Oh here he is. I’m just peachy, thanks for asking. You got that spaceship of yours working yet or what?” Jackie said. 

Perceptible only to Rose, the Doctor’s jaw clenched slightly and his brow furrowed for a moment before he responded. “Not yet, but if you just told me what was going on then we could have a look through UNIT’s archives to see what could help. Are you with the aliens now? Are they hostile? What do they look like?”

“Well, there’s been no probin’ if that’s what you mean. They’re just kind of a greenish brown, quite blobby and stocky, wider on the bottom and they don’t seem to have a separate head, just a weird-looking face on their fronts and about a dozen tentacles. It’s not too bad up here actually, they’ve given me some sort of mug of some kind of tea, and they’ve been pretty keen on showing me around and pointing out all of their alien tech things. I’m not too impressed though, they’re all kinda frazzled.” 

Rose let out a sigh of relief. “The frazzled things Mum, what do they look like?” 

“Well the one I’m looking at now... there’s a screen with all these hieroglyphic things on, and every time I talk some new ones come up on the screen, they flash around for a bit and change before the screen goes a nice reddy-purple colour.” 

“Reddy-purple as in mauve Mum?”, Rose asked. 

“I suppose so if you want to be posh about it. I can get my Jaqueline phone voice out too if you’d like”, Jackie replied sarcastically. 

The Doctor looked pleasantly surprised. “That was... surprisingly informative Jackie, thanks.” He turned to Rose. “Sounds like some of their circuits are on the blink, including their translation ones. Not a problem for me though!” 

He spoke back into the communicator panel. “Jackie, are you with them now? Could you put your phone on speaker and try and get them to talk?” 

There was the sound of scuffling as Jackie — they could only assume — started gesticulating wildly with her phone. “CAN — YOU — TALK — TO — THEM?” her now slightly muffled voice articulated. 

Rose stared at the Doctor anxiously as the grunts, clicks, and whistles started to come down the phone. His face was blank, but his hands started to clench more tightly around the desk edge in front of them. 

“Well?” Rose couldn’t wait any longer. “What are they saying? Remember I’m not up on those billion-odd languages you say you speak.”

When the Doctor spoke again, his voice was low, and he spoke quietly such that only Rose would be able to hear him. “I don’t know”.

She scooted closer to him and started fiddling with the brown sleeve cuff of the suit he was wearing. “What do you mean you don’t know?”. 

The Doctor turned to face her, a dull look in his eyes. It wasn’t often that he showed his true age, but now as Rose stared at him she saw the centuries swirling around his tired eyes. She knew that look well, and it wasn’t a good sign. 

“Based on the description of their appearance, and the general phonology, I would guess that they’re from the Phaam’ohka’so system — if they have that here too — but I can’t place a specific species or language. Must have been a linguistic diversion in this universe. Until the TARDIS coral has grown enough for supplementary translation, I’m not much use I’m afraid.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. “Feels like I’m making a habit of this.” 

***************************************************

It wasn’t the first time that the Doctor had grown frustrated by his newfound limitations, far from it. He had very quickly realised that he was not a fan of zeppelin rides, almost as soon as their flight from Norway had departed. 

Jackie had disappeared not long after takeoff, saying that she was in need of finding the best bubbly on board. That had left Rose and the Doctor alone in the private compartment. 

The Doctor had sprawled out over two seats, his hair having been unable to be tamed that morning. His blue jacket had been discarded into the seat next to him, after he’d muttered something about thermoregulation and perspiration. Rose had sat opposite him, unable to look away. Her eyes roved over his head and torso, comparing what she saw to how she’d remembered him. 

“So,” she’d eventually said, “new suit? The blue, um, suits you.” She cringed as she said it, not liking the awkwardness that had fallen between them. 

“Thought I’d change things up a bit. This was the one I had free when I got dressed. Sometimes when I wear — wore — my usual brown one it would ...” he petered out before finally making eye contact with her. “Well, it would remind me of picking it out the first time, hoping to impress you.” 

Rose had been both taken aback by the honesty, and felt a little pang realising that she’d never see him in his original brown suit again. Shaking the thought aside, she had offered him a slight smile. “You did. And in your tux too; we’ll have to get you a new —“

“No nope nope fat chance on that one; wearing a tux has been nothing but bad luck for me” said the Doctor, cutting her off with a hint of Donna attitude. 

“Well, a new pinstriped brown one then” she’d replied. 

The Doctor had looked away from her. “Do I still deserve to wear one?” he’d asked quietly. He’d looked back over to her when she didn’t respond, biting her lip with a confused expression on her face. He elaborated. “I’m still the Doctor, just... a different model. The ‘lite’ version so to speak. I’ve lost some of who I am — was — and picked up some things I’d rather not have.” He paused. “I... I never thought I deserved to have you in the first place. But I could give you time and space and hold your hand as we ran through the stars, and that, I thought, was enough. I can’t do that anymore. The stories we shared last night, the adventures... I can’t give you that.” He huffed in frustration and his voice grew more forceful. “We’re stuck on this stupid bloody zeppelin for hours, when in times gone by I would have you whisked away in an instant. What use am I just sitting here? What am I going to do with myself?”

He had gotten up then and started pacing the aisle. Rose had sensed that he needed to let his feelings out. 

“Even now, look at me! I can’t think straight and I’ve had a headache from as soon as I woke up. I had more than enough sleep last night, but I’m still tired. When I close my eyes now I can’t control what I see and think; it’s just heat and flames and destruction. He was right — I’m broken. And it’s not your job to fix me. He shouldn’t have left me here with you. You wanted time and space, not a biological anomaly to play happy families with. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I’m just a burden that you’re stuck with. Quite literally, seeing as we’ve got at least another few hours trapped on this zeppelin. Isn’t that wizard?” 

With that, he’d flopped back onto his seat with a groan, closing his eyes and throwing his head back.  
Only to hear — was Rose trying to stifle a laugh? He had cautiously cracked open one of his eyes to see her hands over her mouth, eyes sparkling with mirth. 

“Oi!” he’d protested. “What’s so funny?” 

“That you’re still a melodramatic idiot. A loveable idiot, but an idiot nonetheless”, she’d giggled. 

“Glad to see someone finding this amusing” he mumbled. 

“Sorry — I’ve not had all that much reason to laugh recently. And you really are being a bit of a plonker.” She moved over to sit beside him and took his hand in hers. “Look, while you did originally tempt me with the travelling and the adventure, it’s not... it’s not what made me fall in love with you. Blimey, still feels strange to be able to say that out loud. It’s you as a person that’s important to me, not how impressive you think you are. I didn’t stop loving you when I thought we were stuck on Krop Tor, and I’m not going to stop loving you now.”

At this, the Doctor had let out a shaky breath and squeezed her hand. Rose continued. “Besides, I’m a little bit offended at how boring you think the Earth must be. We’ve still got plenty to explore, at least until the TARDIS coral has grown. And even if it doesn’t, even if the shatterfry thing doesn’t work, it’ll still be okay. You may think you’ve changed, but so have I. It’s what people do. Love isn’t just a feeling, it’s a conscious decision that you keep on making, every day of being with someone as you both grow and evolve together. It’s having both ups and downs and everything in between — you choose to share it with that person. Street corner at 2am or alien marketplace in the year 100,000, it doesn’t matter where as long as you’ve got the right person beside you. Someone you can share your chips with. Someone to share your life with, no matter where your life ends up. I don’t need you to promise me the stars or the Sun or the Moon, just to promise me that you’ll be with me wherever we are... as long as you still want to be.”

Rose suddenly found herself enveloped by gangly limbs and a brown mop of hair. “Of course I do” he murmured into the crook of her neck. “When did you become so wise?” 

“I think you’ll find I’ve always been wise, mister. It just took someone showing me what I’m worth for me to start refining it” she’d said softly. “And if you find you need the favour returning now, that’s okay. We’ll be okay.” 

***************************************************

“Oi, spaceship to UNIT, I am still here you know!” Jackie’s voice cut through the Doctor’s brooding. That, plus Rose’s hand placed gently over his own, seemed to snap him out of it. 

“Right!” His head snapped up, his eyes almost back to their usual twinkliness. “You hold steady Jackie; looks like we need to co-opt a UNIT translator. Let’s see what we can go cobble together — I do like a good cobbling.” 

“You sure do” Rose replied suggestively, muttering under her breath so only he could hear her. 

“What does that even mean?” huffed the Doctor, as he rolled his eyes and she poked her tongue out at him. “You humans and your euphemisms.” 

“I dunno, it just sounded dirty. And enough with the ‘you humans’ thing, you’re one of us now!” She raised her voice for the latter part of the sentence as he was already halfway to the door, before giving the UNIT personnel in the room a cheeky wave and following along after him.


	4. Solutions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Sunday! Bit of a longer chapter this time, think I’m getting into the swing of things. Can you believe it’s been 12 years exactly since The Stolen Earth?

The Doctor had waited for Rose just outside of the doorway. Grinning, he took her outstretched hand and they took off down the corridor. 

“Right, what’s the plan then?” Rose asked. “Or is it a making-it-up-as-we-go-along kind of a plan?” 

“I’ve got a plan! Weeeell, sort of a plan. The beginnings of a plan. Some ideas of what we could use for a plan. A vague... okay never mind. You know what I’m like. It always works out though! Umm, 90% of the time it always works out”, the Doctor rambled. 

Rose used her free arm to pat him gently on the shoulder as he swiped his ID card on the door of the linguistics office. “I know, I trust you. Not sure why I do sometimes with the stuff you come up with, but I do.” 

“I know.” The Doctor flashed her another dazzling grin as the door beeped open. 

They managed to charm their way into being able to borrow the most up-to-date UNIT translation software, without the usual associated form-filling and other bureaucracies. Before too long, they were heading back up the the operations centre. 

“It’s one thing I learnt from UNIT before” said the Doctor. “If you need something doing quickly and properly, go and do it yourself”. 

A quick whirr of a sonic screwdriver later, plus strict instructions to Jackie that she was not allowed to interrupt the aliens talking for at least 5 minutes as the software did its job, the Doctor settled back in an office chair, swinging back and forth slightly. He stretched his Converse-clad legs out onto the desk in front of him, oblivious to the dismay of the desk’s owner hovering anxiously behind him. Rose cleared her throat and gave him a pointed look. 

“Rude?” He mouthed to her, and she nodded in response. He at least looked mildly apologetic, taking his feet down. Spinning around a few times, he settled in for a quick lecture as he waited. The few UNIT personnel around him and Rose were too polite to do anything but listen and nod. 

“Linguistics! Such a fascinating field of study. Syntax, morphology, even semiotics. Blimey, they’d have a field day if they got to study just the few differences between this universe’s English and our old one. Then you’ve got the relationships between different Earth languages and dialects — most fascinating are the language isolates, which don’t appear to be related to any other language at all. I say appear to be, but if you were there for example when... never mind. Throw in alien languages too and you’d need hundreds of years to be able to study it all — but it helps when you’ve been out in the field for that long, so to speak.”

He paused. “Of course, when you’re out of the loop things get a little tricker. With no context to build on, communication is terribly hard. By now humanity has tried sending a few different ideas out on their spacecraft.”

Rose interjected at that. “Like when they sent the A+ blood out on the spaceship that the Sycorax kidnapped?” 

“Exactly! By far the worse one was that blood on Guinevere One but they weren’t to know that I suppose. Just a good job we were there to sort things out. Although, I should be grateful because without that sword fight... ah we’ve been through all that already. Personally I’m a fan of the Pioneer plaques: the hyperfine transition of neutral hydrogen, the pulsar triangulation map... what a beauty it is. They don’t make them like that anymore! Communication distilled down to an art form. Absolutely brilliant!”

**************************************************

Unfortunately for the Doctor, communication in his new human body had taken a bit of getting used to. Although the exact percentages differ from study to study, something like 70-93% of all communication is non-verbal. Which is all well and good when you have full control of your physicality and body language, and can craft your words accordingly — which is what the Doctor was used to. Suddenly finding himself in a human body, with a lot less control over it than his Time Lord one, had been an adjustment to say the least. 

Not long after arriving at the Tyler mansion, the Doctor had started to become uneasy. He’d gone from always being the most confident man in the room, to feeling like a duck out of water. Or, as the expression in this universe apparently was, a pig on a ski slope. 

It was a stark contrast to Rose, he’d thought amidst a surge of pride. From the sounds of it, as soon as Torchwood had realised the walls between the universes were thinning, she’d jumped into it “like a pig in a mud bath.” (Why did they like pigs so much here? He supposed there was a lot to like about pigs. After chimps, dolphins, and elephants, they were the 4th most intelligent animal other than humans — higher up the list than dogs. It made a bacon sarnie seem like it should be a crime). 

Apparently it had been a year before they’d had that flicker of hope and started to work on the dimension cannon. Rose hadn’t initially wanted to talk much about that first year, and the Doctor understood. He’d mentioned his ordeal with the Master, but hadn’t gone into details. Rose knew not to press him. 

Other than a few bursts of emotion, they’d mostly stuck to small talk at first. Rose enjoyed talking about Tony, and how her baby brother’s favourite bedtime stories were those that featured faraway planets and their weird and wonderful inhabitants. It seemed like she’d painted the Doctor as a kind of superhero, which he hadn’t been opposed to. However, it did mean when he’d been introduced to him, Tony could only stare at him silently, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. He’d soon gotten over his initial shock though, and declared the Doctor to be his new best friend. The Doctor reckoned they’d get along like a house on fire. 

They’d arrived at the Tyler house mid-afternoon after their zeppelin ride from Norway. The Doctor had stood awkwardly to the side as Rose and Jackie reunited with Pete and Tony. “Oh come here, you daft lump” Jackie had said, pulling him into the group hug. 

“Doctor.” Pete had acknowledged him with a nod. “Wasn’t expecting to see you here, but welcome back. It’s good to see you.” 

“Likewise!” the Doctor had said. He’d assumed Jackie had explained the situation over the phone, and wondered how many corrections he’d have to make to the story if it ever came up again. 

“And Jacks,” Pete had continued, “what the hell do you think you were doing? You got away with slipping a cannon disc when you did that jump with Rose that time before — and yes, I know that wasn’t an accident — and yes, everyone else ‘got a go’ but that doesn’t mean you had to as well — I’ve been worried sick! Ah never mind that, you’re all back safe and sound. I take it Mickey stayed behind like he said he would?”

Rose had nodded. She couldn’t say anything else. She couldn’t think about Mickey right at that moment. They’d settled everything a while before, with her apologising for always taking him for granted. Thanking him for everything he’d done for her. Graciously he’d brushed it off, saying that they’d both always been better as friends anyway — and they’d both been young, and stupid at times. It still hurt to have him leave though, again. He’d be alright though, more than alright. He had a fresh start, and he’d always been good at making the most of those. He had Jack and Sarah Jane if he’d need them — and that Martha too. Rose reckoned he’d get along well with Martha. 

Lost in her thoughts, Rose hadn’t noticed her mum and Pete introducing Tony to the Doctor, and then ushering him away for a well-needed nap. She’d glanced up at the Doctor to find him staring at her. “What?” She’d blushed. “Oh nothing, just I really, really missed you” he’d replied. She’d offered him a smile, but he noticed that it didn’t reach her eyes. “Come on, I’ll give you the tour”. 

When they’d gotten upstairs, she’d stumbled a bit. “Umm, this is my room.” The door stayed conspicuously closed. “It’s err, a bit of a mess at the moment. There are some guest rooms down that way if you want to pick one of them.” She pointed along the hallway. 

“Right! Okay then. I’ll go take a gander shall I?” The Doctor shoved his hands into his suit pockets. He’d stood there awkwardly for a long moment, not knowing how to articulate how he felt. He’d not been sure he could even begin to understand himself what he was feeling. He’d moved his head forward, paused, and moved it back again. And repeated. Rose had burst out laughing. “What are you, a pigeon?” He’d blushed (that was new!), and finally lent forward far enough to peck her on the cheek, before scarpering down the hallway. 

****************************************************

BEEP BEEP BEEP

The Doctor, distracted by his delve into the science of communication, jumped when the translation device indicated that it had converged on a solution. Rose hurried up behind him, resting her chin on his shoulder. 

“Right, patching this into the comms now... sorted!” He pressed the microphone button. “Hello hello, do you read me?” 

“Salutations Earthkind. Many appreciations for the translating,” crackled through the speaker. 

“YES!” Rose punched the air, and the Doctor beamed at her. 

She checked the clock. “We’ve got... oooh, approximately 3 minutes before we loose communication again — I swear this always happens. The multiverse is such a drama queen.”

“Best get going then! Firstly — who are you, where are you from, and what are you doing?” said the Doctor. 

The Doctor had begrudgingly attended a UNIT alien mediation course. Not that he followed half the protocols he was expected to. He’d ended up exhausting the course leader with his constant interruptions and reminders that he was still half-alien himself, and therefore that any conversation he had with anyone was technically alien mediation. She had signed him off on the course as soon as possible, on the condition that he’d never attend any more of her modules. 

The fully alien creatures responded. “We are the Okomols of the So’phaam’okom federation on a peaceful exploratory expedition. I am Commander Sho’nokap. Upon the attempting of a gravitational slingshot manoeuvre around your mother star, the tendrils of her energy were most troublesome to our electronic devices. We managed to stabilise on an orbit around your daughter satellite but our systematics are failing.” 

The Doctor let out a breath as Rose clarified with him “so the solar wind — that’s the same thing that causes the northern lights right? — it’s messing with their electrics? Like how the Isolus pod was disrupted?” 

“Exactly.” The Doctor replied. “Except, checking through the current space weather forecast, we’ve got much more than the typical solar wind coming our way; it’s an outburst. Usually nothing to worry about as the Earth’s magnetic field protects us, but these guys weren’t so lucky. Geomagnetic storms are powerful stuff — the Carrington Event of 1859 managed to wipe out all the new-fangled telegram systems of the time and cause aurorae almost down to the equator. A similar event would be catastrophic today. Luckily this one flare isn’t going to get any worse, but it’s still going to be affecting their ship for a while. He turned face the communication panel again. “But why take Jackie?”

“We identified your location as one of increased technology, beyond expected for a planet of level 5. At that time our camouflage and teleportation systems were still functional, so we sought out someone authorised to make a deal with us regarding replacement parts we will need”. Sho’nokap responded. 

The Doctor groaned. “And you found Jackie, who wouldn’t recognise a shimmer if it hit her in the face.” 

“Oi, I am still listening you know! What are they saying? It’s still all grunts to me.” 

Rose cut in. “Don’t worry Mum — one minute left Doctor — what parts do you need? We can direct you to a landing site on-planet and go from there.”

Sho’nokap sounded as worried as they could be through the translation software. “Negative. Navigation systems are now offline. Teleportation systems offline. Phaamonian table tennis systems offline. Communications system offline, excepting currently connected external device. All system resources diverted to life support and dwindling.” 

“Shit.” Rose swore under her breath. “You’d think if they knew their ship was on the blink they wouldn’t bring anyone else onto it. What’s the Shadow Proclamation clause on peaceful parlay again? Never mind, it’s too late for that now.” 

She could almost see the cogs ticking in the Doctor’s brain. “If they can’t come to us... we’re going to have to go to them. Jackie — hold tight — we’re on our way!”


	5. Actions

The archives at UNIT Big Ben were a relatively small collection, containing only the artefacts considered to be the most important for quick access. Other archives were spread across London and beyond, despite the Doctor’s insistence that everything could be important and it was absolutely essential for him to have them right by his lab. Somehow, the UNIT high ups weren’t persuaded that it was a good idea to expand the Big Ben archive under the Thames and the London Wheel (“I’m never gonna get used to calling it that” Rose maintained). Apparently “checking the ground for Nestines” wasn’t a good enough excuse for the excavation either. 

Rose walked up to one of the wall displays, and with a few swipes of her finger accessed the electronic catalogue. “Right, so we’re looking for some kind of transport device — teleport or transmat or even a small spacecraft? And what was it you said for the electronic fixes again? Petahertz graphene chips? Anything else?” 

The Doctor had already started flicking through random boxes laid out on the tall, metal shelves which stretched into the depths of the room. “Nah that sounds good to start with — oooh, a Logopolitian abacus, not seen one of them in ages!”

Smiling at him fondly, Rose let him explore and went back to her searching. They spent a few moments in companionable silence before she spoke up again. “We’ve got three different artefacts here identified as devices powered by graphene chips. Plus eight potential teleports in varying conditions. Although, knowing the state of the cataloging, they could just be more hairdryers or musical instruments. It almost makes me miss Adam and his nerdy passion for catalogues.” 

As she expected, that stopped the Doctor in his tracks as he turned around and gave her a look. She winked at him and said “Thought that might have gotten your attention. Section 87 C for the chips, 23 A and B for the teleports; go have a look and see what you think.” 

**************************************************

Rose and the Doctor had been happy to find that they could very easily slip back into their classic double act when it came to saving-the-day type shenanigans. If anything, it was when they felt most at ease — no domestics, no messy feelings, just the dream team back together doing what they did best. It had helped bridge the gaps that had inevitably cracked open during their time apart. 

And of course, something had come up within a week of them arriving back into this universe. The dust had barely settled from the stars going out when they had realised that something wasn’t quite right. 

“Rose, does this universe usually have cats with little tiny horns?” he’d asked her one day. She’d taken him out to buy him clothes and other supplies, but he’d quickly gotten a bit overwhelmed. They’d taken a detour to a nearby park, where they’d been sitting quietly on a bench overlooking a small pond. 

“Not usually, no. Why, have you gotten the sudden urge to adopt a pet?” she had turned to look at him as she replied. 

“Nope, and if I did it definitely wouldn’t be a cat — did I mention I met Novice Hame again?” He’d stood up, and started to make his way over to the vegetation bordering the pond. 

Rose had shuddered. “Yeah, she wasn’t my favourite cat in the world. Always got a soft spot for them though from having them as a kid. Still strange to think back and realise we were the reason Mitzi was on the Estate to begin with”, she’d replied, referring to a cat her and the Doctor had encountered on their travels and ultimately dropped off back on Earth to be adopted by Rose’s younger self. 

The Doctor had crouched down by the bushes, made a face, and reached into them. His hands emerged wrapped around a plump, short-haired tabby tomcat. The cat hadn’t looked too pleased about having his duckling hunt disturbed. 

“Well, seems like we have a running theme for finding cats in places where they shouldn’t be. Because this little chap definitely seems like he’s rather far from home”, the Doctor had said, scooping him up into his arms. 

Rose had made her way over to him. “You weren’t joking about the horns then”, she’d remarked, as she watched the cat fruitlessly trying to headbutt the Doctor with them. 

“Rose Tyler, am I ever not 100% sincere? Wait, don’t answer that. Anyway, Felix here is most probably a Valoonshian cat, so what is he doing here in the middle of a London park?” he’d responded. 

“Valooshian, Valooshian, why does that ring a bell?” Rose had pondered. “Oh! We had a Valooshian ship arrive about a year ago. A family were relocating to a different system and they got lost and ended up here. They liked Earth much better than their original destination and wanted to stay. After some negotiation it was decided they should join UNIT’s alien integration programme, and they’ve been here ever since — presumably with the family cat. But I’m pretty sure he’s not allowed outside.” 

“Since when did cats do what they were supposed to? Either way, mystery solved. Where should we drop him off? Do you need to call up your UNIT mates?” the Doctor had asked. 

Rose had made a face. “I’m Torchwood, and alien integration is UNIT’s responsibility. If we call it in, believe me when I say it’ll be a bureaucratic nightmare. Last thing we need when we’re trying to sort out a merger. There was enough red tape when Torchwood absorbed the Preachers and their resources. I think I remember where they were living — why don’t we just drop by?” 

The Valooshians didn’t live too far away, and were extremely grateful for the discrete return of their beloved pet, promising to keep a closer eye on him. After Rose and the Doctor had waved them a cheery goodbye, they started to wander back vaguely in the direction they’d come from.

“So — those suits I tried on earlier. Did they suit me?” the Doctor had asked. “I... I think I’m feeling a bit better now about the whole clothes shopping thing. Nothing like a rescue mission to calm yourself down. Can we go back for them?”

“Of course!” Rose had beamed at him. “I’m really glad you asked, because they made your bum look _great_.” At that, the Doctor had spluttered, and Rose had laughed. They’d gone back to the shopping centre, and she’d even managed to persuade him to try on a faux leather jacket.

“You look good in those too!” she’d said, and the Doctor couldn’t help but agree with her. Especially when she’d then held onto it as she reached up and kissed him. 

*****************************************************

The Doctor had grabbed as much as he could from the archives, before he and Rose headed up to his lab. 

He immediately sprang into action. “Right, our new friend Sho’nokap said that he should be able to work a fix with a set of new modulators from the graphene chips. I’ll work on those if you could run some tests on the teleports? Usual system that we worked on last month.”

“Rodger that!” replied Rose with a mock salute. The Doctor’s lab was one of her favourite places to be. Partly because it was where the TARDIS coral was growing, and partly because it was the Doctor’s favourite place to be — and if he was happy, she was happy. They’d recently had a breakthrough with the TARDIS too; the chameleon circuit was working. They’d had a nasty shock one day when checking in on her to find the coral had gone. In its place was a dull grey rock, and they had assumed a kidnapping before realising what had happened. Currently, the TARDIS was taking the form of a gnarly old log, the kind you’d put in a reptile tank. According to the Doctor, she was also starting to reach out a little bit telepathically, but that it might be a while before she was strong enough to reach out to Rose. Rose reached in gave the TARDIS log a gentle stroke before setting out on her task. 

As Rose worked, she sneaked the occasional glance up at the Doctor. So many of his mannerisms were familiar, but some were new. Donna’s influence, she presumed. His hair was wilder than ever, with him refusing to acknowledge that he needed to cut it more regularly as a human. Same with shaving; he would often forget about the stubble forming on his chin until he caught his reflection or brushed a hand against his face. Most noticeable were his eyes: one minute wide, bright, and showing the youth of this particular body; the next having a dullness settle over them with a fire raging behind. It was during the latter times that he’d seek her out desperately, finding solace in her embrace. They still fit together perfectly, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. 

Sometimes, Rose’s glances would coincide with the Doctor sneaking some of his own. And the beaming smile he always rewarded her with was worth every desolate dimension jump, every single time her heart had broken in trying to get back to him. 

“Done!” he finally exclaimed. “How are those teleports looking?”

“As far as I can tell, we have one of them which is both powerful enough to make the range of lunar orbit, and also still fully functional. Here, take a look.” she responded, and the Doctor came over to her. As usual, he had no concept of personal space when it came to her — but at least now she knew there was definite intent, and not just a big ol’ bag of mixed signals. 

Quickly scanning the results, he grinned. “Molto bene!” Then his smile faltered. “Only one issue — it can only take one person. One of us can go and get your mother, and send her back with it. But only her; we’d then have to rely on being able to fix the Okomol ship to use their teleport systems.” 

He groaned, and ran his fingers through his hair. “Why can it never be a nice simple solution?”


End file.
